>> this is "bbc world news." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives.

we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> turkey's retaliation against syria continues. a response after five turks died in the syrian attack across the border. a burial takes place and nato condemns the assad regime. welcome to gmt. david eades. coming up, with an audience of 50 million to impress, as romney

gained ground on obama in the first of the televised presidential debates? >> it is not moral for my generation to keep spending more than we take in, knowing those burdens of will be passed on to the next generation. >> i promised i would fight every single day on behalf of the american people, the middle class, and all those striving to get into the middle class. kept that promise. >> also -- ♪ ♪ you know i love you >> 50 years since the beatles released their first single. it's midday in london, 7:00 in the morning in washington, 2:00 in the afternoon in turkey where the parliament is in an emergency session over a bill of the rise across borders military operations in syria. turkey has already retaliated to the mortar attack that killed five people in a border town. despite international calls for restraint, that military

response is still going on. reports that syrian soldiers may have been killed. now this report. >> the shelling of the turkish border town by syrian forces is a cause for deep anxiety. it's not the first time turkish territory has been hit by fire from syria, but the latest incident was the most serious. five civilians were killed. >> the dead people are my next- door neighbors who had been psychologically ruin during the past month and a half, adults and children. we cannot sleep overnight with the bombardment. >> turkey has strongly condemned the action by syria yesterday. it has taken the case to nato. in retaliation for the shelling, turkey has bombed a syrian army post. britain opposes foreign secretary, attending a conference in hungary today, says the longer the conflict in syria, the greater the danger.

>> we all want to make sure there's no escalation of this incident. i think the response from turkey is circumstances. i want to express our solidarity with turkey, our valued nato partner, but we don't want to see an escalation from either side of the border. >> the funerals have been held for the turkish victims. a fresh reminder of the dangers of the violence in syria spilling over into a broader regional conflict. bbc news reporting. muir inore from jim beirut. this does escalate the potential for more to come. we heard about the attack on the syrian army post. i have seen some suggestion that some syrian soldiers may have been killed in that. do you have the latest?

>> i don't have any direct information about casualties among syrians. several soldiers were reported killed near the border where the mortars were fired on wednesday . several soldiers killed. we don't have independent confirmation of that. but it's fairly likely, because the turks said they were using radar to pinpoint the sources of fire that had fired into turkey. the shelling has continued in the early morning, but we don't know whether it will continue. a lot will depend on that. whether the turks keep up the bombardment or whether they will feel their national honor has been satisfied. the other important thing to watch is for any kind of syrian reaction.

they have not mention any casualties and their tone so far has been conciliatory, saying there is an investigation under way in syria as to how the fire went across the border into syria and extending condolences to the families of the turkish victims. >> it is a no-nonsense response. just in terms of the domestic realities for turkey and for the turkish government and the position they find themselves in , presumably, they would want to stop this. >> certainly, they don't want to get embroiled in a bilateral fight with the syrian regime on the ground. that has been clear from the beginning. there is a concerted nato division -- if there were a concerted nato decision to intervene, then turkey would support that, but it does not want to fight on its own . the dangers are evident. on the other hand, it is

spilling across their border. they have tens of thousands of refugees to cope with and now they have their own citizens been killed on their own soil. so they felt clearly they had to respond to that. i suspect they will keep it to a minimum at the moment and yet keep open the option of hitting back harder if they feel they have to. >> thank you very much. could it be a moment which perhaps turns the u.s. presidential election campaign > -- ? the first televised debate has been widely judged a triumph for mitt romney, who had been lagging in opinion polls. he has often been called stiff and awkward in public, judy big -- yet he appeared more relaxed than the president. from washington now, this report. >> we welcome president obama

and governor romney. >> up close and personal for the first time in the campaign, the president and head in the polls and his challenger under pressure to change the dynamics. it was mitt romney who went on the attack from the start. >> my party is putting people back to work in america. they are suffering in this country. we talk about evidence. look at the evidence of the last four years. it is extraordinary. we have 23 million people out of work under the president's policies and middle-income americans have been crushed. >> the president counterpunched on tax and spending, insisting romney would serve only the wealthiest americans. >> budgets reflect choices. we will have to make decisions. if we are asking for no revenue, then that means we have to get rid of a whole bunch of stuff and the magnitude of the tax cuts you are talking about, governor, would result in

severe hardship for people, but more importantly, it would not help us grow. >> for much of the debate it was a talented who appeared more relaxed, more animated, even when cut short by the moderator. >> we are way over our first 15 minutes. >> the smile of a man enjoying himself. and then helped year, the president owes its signature a form which mitt romney wants to undo. >> i don't know how the president could have come into office facing 23 million people out of work, rising unemployment, an economic crisis at the kitchen table, and spend his energy and passion if fighting for obamacare for two years instead of fighting for jobs for the american people. it has killed jobs. >> if you appeal obamacare, and have become fond of the term, if you repeal it, the seniors right away would pay $600 more in prescription care. >> at times barack obama looked

weary. as the dust settles, both sides will be fixated on the polls, with two more encounters still to come. bbc news, washington. >> a classics by ring in action or a common criminal case of smuggling? moscow insists there's no espionage after 11 people were charged in the u.s. with illegally exporting high-tech components with potential use in military systems to russian security agencies. one of them, and owner of companies in texas and moscow, was charged as operating in the u.s. as an unregistered agents of the russian government. real case?re's a >> at this stage they're not getting into the legal issues. they were just pointing out at a meeting this morning, one of the

deputy foreign ministers pointed out that in his opinion the charges were not the espionage charges but criminal charges. they glossed over the fact that one of the men had been charged with acting as an unregistered agents of the russian government, which would be a spy, in many people's terms. not getting involved in the details of what was going on. one of the big companies involved is based in moscow and has denied there were involved in any type of espionage and they say their ordinary business men carrying out ordinary business activities. >> is there much known about alexander fishenko from moscow? " people are not prepared to discuss him here. he is originally from kazakhstan, originally a russian citizen, a naturalized american now with american citizenship and runs a big business in texas exported electronics,

according to the fbi information. the fbi says what he was doing was purchasing very sophisticated electronics which are very useful in building weapons systems and weapons guidance systems and also radar systems. the electronics use a special licence. the allegations are that he was falsifying documents or not obtaining them at all and shipping all the electronics the moscow and then distributing them the weapons manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, and to the successor to the kgb. analysis suggests that these electronics can be used in russian-made anti-ship missiles and fighter jets. they are buying electronics in america for those purposes.

there has been a letter produced as part of the evidence in the case which seems to be from the ssb complaining that a batch of tips that had been provided by his company were faulty. that the evidence being presented to the judge. we will have to wait and see what the defendant has to say about it. >> that will be something to watch. thank you. still to come in the program, the job search is just beginning. we will hear how american graduates are struggling to find work. japan is seeking allies in the region as tensions with china continues over the disputed islands in the east china sea. the islands called senkaku in japan in japanese and diaoyu in china are claimed by china, japan, anti want. -- and to taiwan.

japan's attempts to strengthen ties with south korea over this argument with china have complicated -- have become degraded by another set of islands. lucy williamson has been to the islands that are currently controlled by south korea. >> these islands behind me have caused all the recent tensions between south korea and japan. it is a pretty inhospitable place even on a sunny day like this. there's very little infrastructure. three people. live on the people they are more symbolic than real value to japan and south korea. both countries claimed the islands as their own, even though south korea has control over them. it's become a touchstone issue between the two countries. disputes have yet to be resolved. we have come here with the south

korean government to hear their side of the story. both countries have gone to extraordinary lengths to prove their claims over these rocky outcrops. >> international space station is to be moved into a different orbit to avoid the possibility of a collision with a piece of space junk. the station will fire a booster rocket to avoid a fragment traveling at 17th thousand miles an hour. 21,000 pieces a potentially dangerous debris are orbiting the earth. let us know what you think about any of the stories here covering, not least the first presidential debate spir. get in touch with us. this is gmt from bbc world news. i am david eades. turkey has fired shells across the border into syria after five turkish civilians were killed by assyrian mortar attacks. the first u.s. presidential

election debate between president obama and mitt romney focused on the economy. americans are about $1 trillion in student loans -- owe $1 trillion. despite the huge investment in their education, almost half of recent university graduates are either unemployed or underemployed and many worry about the future. which candidate will they support? our correspondent has this report from philadelphia. >> mack has just qualified as a lawyer, so now taken put his lawbooks away and turn his attention to is $170,000 student debt.

>> the whole gravity of it really did not hit me until about a few months ago when all of a sudden it was like, that's not just a number, that is actually a representative of something. so the joke has always been, well, i bought a house. but really it is a little bit more than that. unable to find a job, he's moving to texas to live with his parents and is not thrilled about it. >> i am 27 years old. even though it is rather typical of people, it is still not culturally normative. >> americans of $1 trillion in student loans and they are struggling to find work -- owe $1 trillion. at temple university, students appear being trapped in low- paying jobs. >> i hope for the best, but i

know from previous experience, a brother graduated from penn state with high grades but has been searching for jobs and cannot seem to find anything. >> the student vote helped get president obama into the white house four years ago. he is still likely to win much of their vote, but gone is the message of hope and change. the american dream has been a part of this election, because many people fear that it's under threat. no more slogans on campuses like this one where students worry they will be worse off than their parents. do you worry about being worse off? >> yes, almost every day. i am fearful that i might not get a job so i might be in debt all my life. >> the university is still seen a good -- as a good investment, because non graduates are fare even worse. but many students are having to lower their financial expectations.

>> we still have it in our mind we will be better off than our parents. but i also think that there is an understanding that we may have to redefine what it means to be better off. >> at least he can take comfort in the fact he never has to study from these books again. bbc news, philadelphia. >> let's catch up on the aaron.ss news wit haar the european central bank is the place to be looking today. >> the big interest rate decision, will they or won't they? what everybody's waiting to see, the boss of the european central bank, one tsa at a press conference after they make the rate announcement. the euro zone back in recession in the third quarter. yet inflation is still high, above the bank's target.

on top of that, the banks are in limbo because you have the next bailout installment from greece hanging in the balance. spain continuing to be reluctant to accept a full rescue package. and you still have the germans very opposed to the ec be bond buying program that they announced several weeks ago, or the banks would buy up the debt from the troubled european economies like spain. let's listen to what everybody is expecting from mario draghi today. >> many economists are hoping that the president of the ecp will say something more in his press conference about the forthcoming bond buying program. we know that spain is standing by to ask for a bailout. it is not yet asked for a bailout. but questions remain. how quickly could a bailout tappan expanded ask for a bailout? what conditions would have to be fulfilled if it wanted a bailout? above all, will the ec be bond buying program actually be legal? the german bank believes it's not legal. the ec says it is legal. for the moment there's a

stalemate. we know that mario draghi is preparing to go to berlin next month to persuade the germans the bond buying program is legal. >> we will get that decision in 25 minutes. >> yes, 12:45. >> food prices, we should expect a hike? >> yes. world food prices are up once again. still hovering close to the levels that we saw back in 2008 when we saw last food crisis. you and i have talked about food prices this year a lot. the same old story, the severe drought in the united states, the worst in half a century. droughts in russia devastating the likes of corn, wheat, and soybeans. with the current food increase, mostly down to barry and meat -- dairy and meat products because you have higher grain prices.

the grain is not just use for foodstuffs like you and i. it is speed for the animals. so that's really having an impact. -- it's feed for the animals. nobody says it's time to panic. but it's time for us in the west to say goodbye to the very cheap food for the many years we have had it. >> most people of my age and are nearly 40, they have been lucky enough to grow up in an era of relatively cheap and abundant food, particularly in the western world. however, the world has changed greatly. are seeing the emergence of a huge asian demand for food in my lifetime. people are demanding more food and better food. global demand for basic commodities like milk, wheat, and most meats has gone through the roof. >> looks like those higher

prices will be sustained for awhile. >> thanks very much. let's lighten the load a little. october 1962, the beatles released their first single, " moment that some say changed music for ever and the end of an era. our correspondent has been in liverpool to see how it could inspire a generation. >> i loved it right away parrotwow, the harmonica. -- i loved it right away. with a harmonica. >> ♪ >> my friend had the record player so we listened to it. love me do ♪

>> in 1962, the beatles playes. >> i was the beatles' first major promoter. >> and 50 years later he was amazed to hear the beatles first single. >> they wrote their own stuff. so the song came as a shock. when i got at the record i gave it to my mother-in-law. she said [indiscernible] . >> he was no longer in charge. this man had taken over. it was a moment in pop history , but dealings were mixed in liverpool. part i remember feeling, how long will this last? we all knew this was a big

thing. gone.nths later, it's ♪ ♪ >> for a 15-year-old singer it would never be the same again. after this came the madness. >> i'm from liverpool pant i used to sing 60 years ago -- and i used to sing 60 years ago. [indiscernible] it was beatlemania. >> tony barrow was asked to

write a press release for the beatles. >> i said, yes. >> the sales, even though it made it to number one locally,. or disappointments >> what happened was people like the fans thinking if we've purchased this single, the beatles will be off to london and we don't want to do that, if we want to keep the beatles right here. >> its a great beginning of the beatles story in pop history, but something special here had come to an end. bbc news, liverpool. >> liverpool's loss was everyone else's gain. let me remind you of our top stories. there's been funeral's taking place in the turkish border town after two women and three children were killed by shelling from across the syrian border. turkey has renewed its response by firing at targets inside

syria among the military targets in particular. the turkish parliament has been discussing authorizing troops to cross into syria. government forces say that turkey is not planning to declare war on syria. that's all for the moment. stay with us on bbc world news. much more to come. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture

new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.